You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

These lines come from Dr. Seuss’s late-career book "Oh, the Places You’ll Go!" (1990), published the year before his death. Written in the voice of a buoyant guide addressing a young traveler, the book functions as a secular “graduation” or coming-of-age text, encouraging readers to face life’s choices and setbacks with resilience. The quoted stanza appears early, as the speaker equips the reader with basic inner resources—mind, mobility, agency—before the narrative moves on to the thrills of departure and the inevitable “waiting place” and disappointments that follow. The passage reflects Seuss’s characteristic blend of simple diction, rhythmic reassurance, and moral encouragement.

The passage asserts personal agency: you possess the tools to direct your life—intelligence (“brains”), capacity for action (“feet”), and freedom of choice (“any direction you choose”). The emphatic capitalization of “YOU” underscores responsibility as well as empowerment: no one else can ultimately decide your path. At the same time, the tone is not harshly individualistic; it is gently motivational, framing autonomy as an exciting adventure rather than a burden. In the larger arc of the book, this optimism is tempered by later acknowledgments of uncertainty and failure, making the lines a foundational credo: self-determination is real, but it must be exercised amid life’s unpredictability.